(I promise, the story gets more fun after the second picture.)
I've been sick for the past two weeks or so. Initially I had a cold, and my voice went out, and so I had to sing base for choir Thursday and Sunday. Then it finally came back Sunday, and I was able to sing Tuesday, but the next morning I woke up sick AGAIN. Ugh.
Now I'm suffering from something unknown I've been referring to as "Dumbledore's hand." I call it that because for whatever reason, my hands have been getting progressively drier and drier over the course of this week, and today they were so dry they were starting to bleed a bit, and it was kind of unbearable. It might just be the extreme wind that goes on at Oxford, or maybe the brand of soap I've been using. Or the cold tap water. I got some treatment from a pharmacist, and it's definitely helped a lot. I took a picture of my hands before the treatment, but I decided to spare you, since you were kind enough to take the time to read my blog.
I'd like to take this moment to rant about English healthcare. Today I mentioned to a good friend of mine my situation and she told me that she had signed up for an appointment last week, but that she was going to London this weekend and couldn't make it, so she give me her appointment slip so I could go instead. I trekked all the way to Jericho's health clinic, my hands in mild pain. Then the receptionist told me I couldn't do that. I asked her to schedule (pronounced "shed-yule") an appointment as early as possible, so she booked me for Wednesday. That's five days, people. I was so irritated that got myself a trumpet and then marched around the building a few times until it fell down (25 JPs if you got the reference the first time).
And that's not just because I'm a student; apparently, that's the way it is all around the country. I seriously hope that America's not going to follow suit under the new Obamacare system, because that's just seriously annoying always having to wait that long, considering that you only actually book an appointment if you're already suffering from something. Fortunately, the pharmacist had a home-brewn remedy (no, not really home-brewn), so at least I won't have to suffer.
With that said, here's a photo of some kittens.
I love Friday lunches, because it's the one time of the week when they serve us junk food. I mean, it's Englandy junk food, but it still tastes delicious. Mmm. Friday lunches. And the chocolate cake they serve is the closest thing we have on earth to the food served in heaven.
I also had chocolate cake later in the day when a friend of mine had some free time and decided to bake. It was scrummy. But not quite as literally perfect as the chocolate cake served at hall. Then we played a bit of Brawl, since we haven't played for ages, even though I should've worked a little more on Functional Programming homework.
This week has been hard. I've kind of had what they refer to as "fifth week blues." Some say it's some myth, others say otherwise, but for me, it became real. I found myself partway through the week realizing that even though I was caught up with the homework, I was behind in the understanding of the material. But I spent two essentially "free" days catching up, and now I'm more-or-less caught up. Although I'm not sure about this weekend, considering I've been resting a bit the past two days...
...In other news, I've discovered that the shiny new Mathematical Institute at Oxford has SUPER posh bathrooms. Last night, after realizing that I'm officially fluent in Spanish, I started to learn Russian.
And then this morning, I stopped.
The educators here say some funny things sometimes. I can't tell if they're just English idioms and I'm being a complete American idiot or what. But they amuse me. Here are a few:
- Our Linear Algebra I lecturer, referring to the Algebra of Limits, said about a problem "Let's play AOL games on it." I don't think the AOL that I was thinking of is well-known here in England.
- Our Analysis lecturer told us, "Now, this problem is very fiddly. We want a way to reduce the fiddliness of this expression." I'm guessing "fiddly" is pretty common in England, but to an American idiot like me, it sounds hilarious.
- Finally, the choir director told the alto section, "If you can't hit that top note, just open your mouths suggestively." Lol :D
Finally, I wanted to express how useless I've been feeling. I haven't been doing much in the way of helping others this week, mostly because I've been so sick. I hate that I can't do anything to help others. I feel like that's letting down those I care about, but there's so much work to be done and I'm so sick and all that it's hard enough to take care of myself.
I also haven't been keeping up-to-date very much with others and how they're doing, I feel. Most of the conversations I've been having recently have been either selfish ones or discussions about homework sheets or concepts. I had not one, but two long conversations this week where I posited that you could make a standard basis of the "weather set" if you made a set that contained a drop of water, a slight gust of wind, a wisp of cloud, 1 Joule of heat, 1 Joule of energy, and 1 lightbulb. That was probably the best conversation I've had this week, although to be fair, it was a pretty fascinating topic. Depending on your point of view, I suppose.
It's also been far too long since I've made someone laugh "big ba-ha laughter," as I call it. That's not fun.
Still, I trust in God and have hope for future.
Illy,
John Khouri, Sick as a Dog if the Dog Were Wearing Sweet Rockstar Shades
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